The launch dates for Russia's new promising Orel transport spacecraft remain the same. The launch of the promising transport spacecraft, also known as the Federation promising transport spacecraft (PTK), is scheduled for 2028. This was announced by the head of Roscosmos, Yuri Borisov.
It is currently in the final stages of construction.
According to the head of the state corporation at a meeting in Kaluga with students of specialized universities and the Tver Suvorov Military School, the ship was originally designed for the Russian lunar program. But later it was re-profiled, and the timing of the first launch began to shift. It is now known that the Orel spacecraft will deliver crews to the Russian Orbital Station, ROS, the scientific and energy module of which will be sent into space in 2027. The launch of the ship, which will dock to this module, should take place in 2028.
Borisov's words are confirmed by Roscosmos data: Vostochny is already preparing for ship tests. In July 2023, mobile laboratories began to be delivered there to test mock-ups of the Orel descent capsule.
Each such laboratory container based on KamAZ is equipped with sensor equipment for operational monitoring of tests. These laboratories will receive signals from mannequins that will simulate four astronauts sitting in capsules under certain loads. The capsules will be dropped from a MI-26 helicopter from a certain height and they will land and land with mannequins inside.
According to Roscosmos, tests of mock-ups of the return vehicle of the manned spacecraft are scheduled for 2024-2025,
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